The present invention relates to overlay networks, and more specifically, to client attachment to nodes of an overlay network.
An overlay network is a computer network that is built on top of another network. Nodes in the overlay network can be connected via virtual or logical links. Each such virtual or logical link can correspond to a path—potentially containing multiple physical links—through the underlying network. For example, distributed systems such as peer-to-peer networks and client-server applications can be considered overlay networks because their nodes run on top of the Internet infrastructure. Overlay networking allows for layers of network abstraction to be created that can be used to run multiple, separate, and discrete virtualized network layers on top of a physical network, and thus, can provide increased flexibility and security over the physical network alone.